So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
This song is for the rats
Who hurled themselves in to the ocean
When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold
Were just about to blow
This song is for the soil
That's toxic clear down to the bedrock
Where no thing of consequence can grow
Drop your seeds there
Let them go
Let them all go
Let 'em all go
This song is for the people
Who tell their families that they're sorry
For things they can't and won't feel sorry for
And once there was a desk
And now it's in a storage locker somewhere
And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons
I left in the top drawer
Let 'em all go
Let 'em all go
I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving
And something has got to give
I saw you waiting by the roadside
You didn't know that I was watching
Now you know
Let it all go
Let 'em all go
Let it all go
Who hurled themselves in to the ocean
When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold
Were just about to blow
This song is for the soil
That's toxic clear down to the bedrock
Where no thing of consequence can grow
Drop your seeds there
Let them go
Let them all go
Let 'em all go
This song is for the people
Who tell their families that they're sorry
For things they can't and won't feel sorry for
And once there was a desk
And now it's in a storage locker somewhere
And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons
I left in the top drawer
Let 'em all go
Let 'em all go
I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving
And something has got to give
I saw you waiting by the roadside
You didn't know that I was watching
Now you know
Let it all go
Let 'em all go
Let it all go
Lyrics submitted by I'm a Pirate
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this song is just flat out awesome. i couldnt believe my ears when i heard it on the Showtime show "Weeds" and i'm also excited that i am going to get to see them here in Kalamazoo, MI in a week!
Found out about this song on there too, lol. I love it.